All You Have To Do Is Ask
by TheCrawleys
Summary: The events of 3x11 as told from POV of Klaus and Caroline with a little twist at the end.


Pathetic. If anyone had asked Klaus his opinion of the vampire Barbie, this is how he would reply without a moment's hesitation. Ever since his arrival to Mystic Falls, he had never given Caroline a second thought. She was just another vampire too weak and too trivial for him to take notice of. Yet now his own sired hybrid had refused to heed his command and bite her, he could think of no one else. Now he could not help but wonder what it was about her that possessed Tyler to determinedly defy him. He had to find out. And soon, he would.

As expected, Tyler had bitten Caroline against his own wishes. Pathetic, Klaus thought as his stared down to his weeping hybrid. It was time. By now, the wound would have reached the size of her head and if he did not hurry, he would be too late. Ignoring the pleas of his hybrid, he sped away.

Unsurprisingly, he wasn't greeted as hospitably as he would have preferred. But no matter, a look of concern and a word about him being able to save her would suffice to allow the humans to open their home to him. In he walked and did not stop until he came to a door that opened to a bed where a dying Caroline lay. Sweat dripped down her white porcelain face and soaked her shirt. From such a close distance, he could clearly hear the series of whimpers she had tried so hard to quiet so as to not worry the other occupants of the house. Klaus' feet moved before him before he had realized. Something, something about this dying girl had interested him. He was determined to find out what that was. And he couldn't have her dying before he was able to.

As her crept up to her, she did not flinch. Instead, she tiredly stared up at him and waited. Peculiar. Then she spoke, "Are you going to kill me?" Instantly, Klaus felt a wave of disgust with himself and a need to defend his own character. Oddly enough, he did not like the idea of this little blonde vampire thinking of him as a monster, despite the fact that he was as monstrous as anyone could be. So in response he replied 'On your birthday? Do you really think that low of me?' As he said it, he regretted it. He did not want to hear the answer he knew would follow in reply. And almost without missing a beat, Caroline gulped and replied with a "yes". She may be on her deathbed, but she was determined not to go down with her mouth shut. For a moment, Klaus stood. Then he advanced towards her, never taking his eyes off her as he took a step. Caroline's heartbeat quickened along with the pace of her breath. Becoming increasingly worn out, she closed her eyes. Too tired to protest to whatever Klaus was about to do. Suddenly, she felt his hands clench near over the blanket near her neck as he uncovered to wound he had ordered Tyler to inflict.

Klaus let out a soft gasp and drew away. Yet it was not because of the damage the wound had brought to her once perfect skin but due to the realization that he had in fact been the reason for the damage of something so _pure_. So _innocent_. Suddenly, Klaus felt something he had not felt for a long time. He felt ashamed. "My apologies. You are known as collateral damage, it's nothing personal." , he whispered. Klaus bit his tongue. Perhaps he could have worded himself better. Suddenly, Caroline's eyes opened and she stared back at him. Accusingly. She was both angry yet taken aback that he had apologized to her. And as she was too feverish to think clearly, she was not sure which she was more of.

Klaus did not like the way Caroline was looking at him and so did his best to avoid her eye contact. He felt uncomfortable. And it both unsettled him and interested him that she made him feel this way. Wanting to break the tension, he reached out his hand and flick the hideous bracelet he suspected Tyler had given her for her birthday and changed the subject. "I love birthdays" he said. Caroline was again taken aback but did not let it show. She thought the whole situation to be ridiculous. Ironic. Here she was lying on her deathbed and awaiting her time to go while Klaus, yes, _Klaus _chatted on about his love for birthdays. And in a surreal way she was glad. It distracted her. Could it have been only a few hours ago she was blowing out the candles on a cake Bonnie had lit up for her while Matt and Elena cheered by her side? Now here she was making small talk with the other hybrid responsible for her soon to be death. It was so ironic, she resigned herself to it. So she continued to join in on the conversation, "What are you, a billion or something?". And she was surprised to see a smile plaster across Klaus's face in response.

There was something oddly comforting about being around Caroline. Klaus could not understand why but while he was around her he felt a sort of…buzz. And before he could catch himself after she had made that last comment, he couldn't help but think she was adorable. He couldn't help but smile. "You have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire, Caroline. Celebrate the fact that you're no longer bound by trivial human conventions. You're free." As he neared that last sentence, his smile slowly faded. He had noticed Caroline's gaze drop. "No" she responded softly, "I'm dying". She stared up at Klaus. This time not accusatorily but sadly. Klaus now thought this was worse. He did not want her sad. Seeing that look of misery on her face, he had felt compelled to end it. Slowly, he lowered himself onto her bed. Initially, he did come here planning to ensure she didn't die. But that was solely for the purpose of finding out what was special about her. Although that was still part of the reason now, it was more that he simply could not stand the idea of her dying. He could not and would not imagine it. But he wanted the choice to be hers, regardless of what he wished. He leaned in closer and whispered "And I could let you. Die. If that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning. I thought about it myself. Once or twice over the centuries, truth be told. And I'll let you in on a little secret. There's a _whole world _waiting out there for you. Great cities and art, and music."

Caroline wasn't sure why. But she wanted to cry. Truth be told, she had thought about it. Just letting go. It was why she had begged her mom and Matt not to tell anyone about what had happened to her. She thought she was fine with just letting go. But while she listened to Klaus, who in her eyes, looked so genuine as he spoke these words, she realized she was far from fine. She didn't want to die. She wanted to see the great cities, look at beautiful art, and listen to meaningful music. She even wanted to celebrate the human conventions Klaus had referred to as 'trivial'. Finally, she let herself grasp onto the hope that maybe, just _maybe_, Klaus might let her do just those things.

Klaus wasn't sure why he was telling her this. He didn't need to. But unbeknownst to him, he wanted to. He wanted to make her want to live. And he wanted her to want him help her live. He leaned forward and placed his hand on her arm. He continued, "Genuine. Beauty. And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask."

To say Caroline was afraid would be an understatement. She had just been given all the hope and the desire to live once more by the most untrustworthy being she had ever known. What if he had brought her to this point only to let her fall? But either way, now it was too late. Fall or fly, she decided to grasp onto the thread of hope he had woven for her. She took a breath and managed as best as she could to utter "I don't want to die".

In response, Klaus pulled up his sleeve and held her close to him, offering his wrist to her. "There you go", he whispered as he offered her a shot to live once more. "How about it?" he continued. Caroline sunk her fangs into his wrist and sucked his blood for her life. A soothing voice crept into her right ear, wishing her happy birthday. She knew it was wrong. But it was all she had. And so she sunk her fangs deeper into his flesh.

Caroline began to stir after what felt like a very long dream and awoke. Sitting herself upright on her bed, she massaged her sore neck. Nothing. It was definitely a dream. There was no way— and then something caught her eye. There on the table beside her bed, lay a rectangular box with a white ribbon tied on top of it. Next to it was a card. She grabbed the card and flipped it over to see the words 'From Klaus' etched onto it. Caroline paused. So it wasn't a dream. And instead of throwing aside the box, her curiosity got the better of her. Gingerly, she opened it, unsure of what to expect. It opened to a bracelet. A bracelet made up of bows. Caroline couldn't help but think that how beautiful was in spite of herself. But what did it mean? And why wasn't she just casting it aside? She didn't understand.

At the same moment, Klaus was standing outside her house where he stood concealed by a tree, staring up through her window. A smirk crept upon his face. He liked to see a baffled Caroline. And as Caroline had not thrown aside the box, he took this to be a good sign. For a few more moments, he just watched as she sat on her bed, motionless. Then he turned away. Eagerly awaiting the next time they would meet.

Caroline sat on her bed. Unable to think and unable to move, for she was unsure of what to do next. What move to make. So she decided not to think at all and did what her body had long wanted to do since discovering the bracelet inside the box. Grabbing the box, she gently took out the bracelet and slowly replaced the old with the new. As she stared at herself in the mirror opposite her bed, she recalled what Klaus had whispered to her the previous night: "And you can have it all. All you have to do is ask."


End file.
